The essence of time
by Avalayn
Summary: Luffy had just left Zou. Ace had just died in Marineford. But for some reason, they both wake up nearly 25 years back in the past. What happens when Luffy runs into the pirate king and his crew? And how will Ace deal with his biological father and his adoptive one, who doesn't even know he exists right now? Join Ace and Luffy on their crazy adventure as they search for the truth.
1. The disappearance of the straw hat

**Hey guys! I love time travel fanfics and there aren't many where Luffy and Ace go back in time and meet Roger and Whitebeard so I decided to write one! Updates will be random since I'm also writing a Luffy and Dragon fic at the same time.**

* * *

Chapter one: The disappearance of the straw hat

* * *

Luffy was starting to get excited. They were on their way to Whole Cake Island to retrieve Sanji, and he knew that the whole ordeal was going to be another adventure. He was currently sitting on the figurehead of the Sunny, waiting in anticipation for any signs of the island. It was starting to get very late though, and he was starting to get tired.

"Hey Luffy, what are you doing?"

Luffy looked behind him to see Chopper looking up at him with curious eyes. He grinned, eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"I just can't wait to get to the island. So much is happening and I really wanna see Sanji again".

"I know, I'm really worried about him too, but it's getting really late. It's going to be past midnight soon. I think you should go to sleep, after all, we're going to need all our energy when we get there."

Luffy started to make his way off the figure head, knowing that the small reindeer was right. So much has been happening recently with Dressrosa and Zou that he didn't have much time to sleep. "Yeah okay, I guess we're getting close now aren't we? Well, I'll see you later Chopper, goodnight!"

The cheerful captain made his way to his room, and the moment his body hit the bed, he instantly fell asleep.

* * *

The sound of the waves crashing was peaceful. The rocking of the ship made Luffy feel comfortable, as he dreamt of the sea. He was consciously awake now, but he didn't want to open his eyes since he was so comfortable.

He rolled over to his left side only to run into…a wall? It was only then that Luffy realized that he was sleeping on wood, and not on the soft mattress of his bed. He sat up slowly, yawning as he looked around. His tired eyes surveyed his surroundings as he was still trying to differentiate from the dream he was just having and the reality he was in.

As he looked around, he realized he was looking directly at the ocean.

Hmmmm that's weird, did he sleep outside on the deck or something? He was pretty sure he was in his room sleeping near the other guys on the ship, but he couldn't see anyone else there. Actually, he couldn't see anything but the ocean. He was also very close to the surface, which surprised him since the Sunny is a big ship and he should be much higher up than he is now.

Luffy looked down, only to realize that he was on a small boat. Alone. Not on the Sunny were he should be.

There was nothing else on the boat. Luffy blinked in confusion.

Well, that's strange. It's a mystery!

But wait! He was alone on a boat, and he couldn't see any ships anywhere near him, only the ocean.

"Areeee? Where am I? How am I supposed to get back to the Sunny?" Usually mysteriously waking up in the middle of nowhere would excite him since it would mean that a new adventure was beginning, but Luffy couldn't see anything around for miles except the ocean. He didn't want to stay stuck in a boat, that would be boring! Not to mention, he wanted to get Sanji as quickly as possible since he was worried about Zoro's group that went to Wano. But he had no idea what to do or how to get back to his ship.

"Hmmmmmm….. I can't swim, and I'm alone….", Luffy contemplated as his face started to turn red from all the thinking.

"Mooouh, I give up, this is going to give me a fever, I'm just going to wait here for a while I guess. I'm sure Nami and the others are looking for me." He laid back on the small boat and closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of being out in the ocean. The wind blew across his face and hair carrying the scent of the ocean, and Luffy sighed contently as his hand reached up to rest on his straw hat out of habit.

Wait a minute….. hat?

Luffy's big round eyes flew open as he shot up in a state of panic. His hands searched his head and his raven locks.

There was nothing there.

He searched the small amount of space around him on the small boat frantically.

Nothing….

Nothing _nothing nothing nothing nothing…._

It was gone, GONE!

His precious straw hat was no where to be found!

His frantic search for the straw hat caused the small boat to start dangerously rocking back and forth, nearly tipping over completely. The young boy had to grip the edges of the boat and steady himself to stop himself from falling over.

Okay, he didn't like this. This wasn't fun anymore.

At first he thought that maybe this mystery would lead to another cool adventure, but he was stranded alone in the middle of nowhere without even knowing how or why he was there, and his hat was missing.

Panic started to take over, and his heart started racing. He didn't know what to do. He was just going to wait for Nami and the others, but now that his hat was gone he was becoming restless. He couldn't wait, he had to move. He had to find his hat. Not having it with him was like missing a huge piece of himself.

While he was searching for his hat and hyperventilating, Luffy didn't notice the silhouette of a large ship slowly approaching him. It was only until the ship got nearer that he finally realized that there was a ship in front of him.

He looked up at the ship. It was still far away so he couldn't really see it properly, but he could see the dark crimson sails and a skull with crossbones imprinted on the front. The skull had some kind of weird swirly moustache. It was obviously a pirate ship.

Luffy's eyes widened as he saw this as his chance to finally get off this boat and find his nakama, who will hopefully know what happened to his precious hat.

* * *

The Oro Jackson was sailing along the beautiful, pristine ocean. It was a nice, sunny day, and most of the Roger pirates were out on the deck sparring, chatting or just simply enjoying the view of the ocean.

Somewhere on the deck, a large group of people were gathered around two teenage boys. One had a funny red nose and long blue hair in a ponytail, while the other had striking red hair and was wearing a straw hat.

The two seemed to be quarrelling about something, and the crowd was egging them on.

"THE NORTH POLE"

"NO IT'S THE SOUTH POLE"

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT YOU STUPID RED HEAD? IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE NORTH PO_ OWWWWWWWWW!" The two teens looked up in fright and held their heads that now sported a large bump. A blonde middle aged man was looking down at them, annoyance clearly written all over his face.

"Th- The vice captain!" they both squeaked.

"You idiots, south pole, north pole, who cares which one is colder? If you want to find out so badly why don't you go there yourself?"

The two teenagers instantly shut up and looked away, their cheeks flushing red in embarrassment as the crowd that had gathered around them was now laughing.

"We don't have time for your idiocy, we are nearing the island. Now stop messing around and go help with the preparations!"

"Yes sir!" The two quickly scrambled as far away as possible from the middle aged man.

The man sighed as a deep laugh echoed throughout the ship.

"Aw don't be such a meanie Rayleigh, the poor boys were only having fun". Rayleigh looked at the man he called captain from the corner of his eye in annoyance.

"We don't have time for this Roger, you know that! Whitebeard is waiting for us, we need everyone to carry out their duties".

"Gurahahahahahaha, that old man? Don't worry about him, he can wait." Rayleigh shook his head at his captain as a small smile crept on to his face. Even after all these years, Roger hasn't changed.

"Captain! I can see something out in the distance!" The lookout shouted from the top of the Oro Jackson's crow's nest.

Rayleigh perked up at the news "Hm? Is it the island? I thought we still had a day or two until we reached it".

"No, it's definitely not the island, it's way to small". The lookeout replied. "Hold on, let me take a closer look". The lookout got out his telescope from his pocket and used it to inspect the 'thing' that was out in the ocean. " Hmmmm let's see, it seems like it's a small boat. I think there is someone on it, though he seems to be moving around a lot for some reason, almost like he's searching for something".

The pirate king got a mischievous glint in his eyes at hearing this. "Ohhhh, maybe he needs help? Change the direction of the ship! Go towards the boat!"

"Aye aye sir".

"Wait a minute, Roger, we don't have time for this, we need to get to the island. Anyway, this could be a trap!" Rayleigh grabbed Roger's arm and turned him around to face him. He was starting to get really annoyed at his captain.

"Gurahahahahhahahaa! Come on, where did your sense of adventure go? Are you getting old Raleigh? I already told you, Whitebeard can wait. Besides, even if it's a trap we will still be easily able to kick the enemy's ass! And what if the poor guy really does need help?"

For what seemed to be the tenth time that day, Rayleigh sighed. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to change his captain's mind. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **So that's the end of chapter one! Chapter two is already ready so I will post it soon, but please review and tell me what you think! Also if you want, follow my one piece acc on instagram pineappleluffy**


	2. Stranger things

**Hey guyyyyys! Thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter! Keep those reviews coming please!**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter two: Stranger things

* * *

Ace woke up with a gasp, his body drenched in sweat. His hands instantly flew to his stomach, searching his body, expecting there to be a gaping whole right in the middle. He was surprised to see that there was nothing there. His head turned from left to right, scanning the area he was in.

Darkness.

That was all he could see.

Was he…. _dead?_

He was pretty sure he was. At least, he was supposed to be. The memory of Akainu's fist going through his stomach and coming out the back was extremely vivid, there's no way it could have been a dream.

But then where is the hole?

Maybe this is the afterlife?

He tried to stand up, but the moment he did he instantly collapsed again. His legs were shaking, and he felt incredibly exhausted and confused. He didn't know what was happening.

Was Luffy ok?

He prayed to God that he was, because if anything happened to Luffy, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

He stayed there lying on the cold hard ground, trying to control his short breaths. Every time he inhaled, he felt like his chest was burning.

Breathing.

He was breathing.

His heart was beating.

He was alive.

But how?

He did not have the energy to try and get up again, and his eyelids were starting to get heavy. Slowly, he closed his eyes as the darkness overtook him.

* * *

The next time Ace woke up, he could hear the sound of birds chirping.

When he opened his eyes, the light overwhelmed him, and he had to close them again since it was too bright and painful.

He could feel the warmth of the sun radiating on his skin. He took a long breath of fresh air, and he slowly opened his eyelids, squinting and giving himself time to adjust to the light.

The world was blurry and it was making his eyes tear up, but at least it wasn't dark and black. No. It was bright and green.

Green?

Using all the energy he could muster, Ace lifted himself up and leaned on his elbows. His fingers clawed at the dirt on the ground as he started to breath more heavily. He stopped moving, giving himself time catch his breath.

With a little more effort, he managed to push himself up on to a sitting position. Instantly, he clutched his head in his hands.

Damn, his head was killing him! It was pounding!

After about 5 minutes or so waiting for the headache to stop, Ace was finally able to look around.

It seemed like he was in a forest. No wonder the world seemed green.

From what he could tell, he was alone in the forest.

Why?

That he did not know.

His face scrunched up in confusion. He was pretty sure that he was in the middle of a battlefield before waking up in this forest. He couldn't remember there being a forest in Marineford.

His head was starting to pound more with all the thinking.

Grabbing on to the closest tree, Ace tried to pull himself up. After about another 5 minutes of struggling, he finally managed to stand, but not without resting on the tree.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he tried to catch his breath while resting on the tree.

He looked down at his stomach, and he still couldn't see the hole that should have been there.

Was it all a dream? It couldn't have been.

Actually, now that he was looking down at himself, he realized that he was wearing a shirt.

He recognized that shirt.

It was the one he always wore before he joined the Whitebeard pirates, back when he was a captain of his own crew. The shirt was a yellow button up shirt, but all the buttons were undone, giving him a clear view of his chest and stomach.

He frowned. He didn't like shirts. Shirts covered the mark on his back. The mark that represented everything he loved. His pride. His joy. The mark of the Whitebeard pirates. His friends. His _family_.

So why the hell was he wearing a shirt?

He was pretty sure he wasn't wearing one in Marineford.

As gently as he could, he took the shirt off his body and threw it on the floor. Instinctively, he looked back at his back, wanting to see his mark so that it could calm him down. Looking at the mark would always calm him when he was distressed, even if it was hard to do so since it was on his back.

He could always still see it if he turned his head around since it was so big and covered a majority of his back. It reminded him of his family. And now that he was confused and worried that his family might have gotten hurt in that dreadful war (if it even happened?), Ace needed to see his mark. He needed at least _something_ to make sense in this strange situation.

But it didn't make sense.

In fact, it made even less sense.

Ace stared at the clear, tanned skin on his back.

Gone.

It was _gone_.

The mark that proved he was a Whitebeard pirate. The mark that represented his pride. His family. His _father_.

It was gone.

* * *

It had taken Ace a long time for his brain to start functioning again. And the moment it did, he grabbed his shirt, put it back on and ran.

He didn't like having his back exposed to the world if they couldn't see the prideful mark of the Whitebeard pirates. There was no point really.

He didn't know what was going on. He needed to find Oyaji or Marco. He needed to find Luffy. He needed to find SOMEONE he knew so that they could explain what the hell was going on and why he was in a fucking forest and why his mark disappeared.

Really though, the most important question is why the fuck was he even alive?

After a good 10 minutes of running, Ace had managed to find a small town. He instantly made his way to the nearest bar he could find, and ordered the strongest drink they had.

He needed to get his shit together.

Not that the alcohol was going to help, but hey, he needed some form of comfort right now.

The young fire user drank the contents of the wooden mug in one gulp, and slammed it on the counter, surprising those who where near him.

Ace noticed that some of them gave him some dirty looks, but he didn't care. As his eyes roamed the area, a certain newspaper and a bounty poster on the noticeboard instantly caught his attention.

While he couldn't actually read the newspaper, the title of the article was written in big bold letters that he would be able to read even if he was a good distance away.

 **Gold Roger, the pirate king, has recently reached the last island on the grand line, Raftel. It is said that he discovered a legendary treasure there.**

Ace's eyes widened. He was not expecting to see a newspaper about his biological father here. He was pretty sure that all the bounty posters and information about his father were destroyed by the world government and the people who hated him. After all, his father was a demon. He had a lot of enemies.

But it looks like that information was wrong, since right next to the newspaper, there was a bounty poster.

It can't be…..

There's no way that poster would be there…

But it was.

The poster was right in the middle of the noticeboard, and it read:

 **WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE. THE PIRATE KING, GOLD ROGER. REWARD: 3,500,000,000 BERRI.**

Ace's eyes widened. That can't be right. He shot up from his stool and slapped his hands on the table.

"Oi!" He called out to the bar keeper, who was in the middle of refilling his drink. "That bounty poster and newspaper…."

"Ah, yes, everyone is talking about it. You seem surprised kid. Is this your first time hearing about this or somethin'?"

Ace looked at the barkeeper in bewilderment like he had three heads, his mouth hanging open.

"Oh? You really don't know? Why, that Roger has just recently made it to the last island on the grand line! They said he found some kind of valuable treasure or somethin', don't remember what it's called…two piece? Yeah, anyway, he's a demon! The marines are doing everything in their power to take em' down now. Heard he killed a bunch of people and destroyed a bunch of islands to get that treasure. The fact that he's still out there somewhere roaming the sea is terrifying! They oughta capture him already."

"What? Capture? Free? Isn't he dead?" Ace's complexion was starting to grow deathly pale.

"Watcha talkin' about kid? The pirate king is still as alive as ever, it's taking everything they have for the marines to keep the balance of the world…..hey, you okay kid? You don't look very well".

Ace's head started pounding again, and his vision was starting to blur. He looked back at the noticeboard, and this time, he spotted a calendar there. The calendar indicated that the date was roughly 23 years before the actual year.

"Hey, what's up with that calendar? Why does it say that it's 23 years before the actual date?" Ace pointed weakly at the calendar.

"Huh? Watcha talking about kid? 23? Do you not even know the date? That date is right."

And just like that, Ace's body collapsed onto the concrete floor.

* * *

 **Sorry this was a short chapter. I finally have the whole story planned out, yaaaay! It should have 26 chapters plus 3 bonus ones at the end. Updates will be random but I'll try and do it once a week for now.**


	3. The moustache man, flower and Shanks?

**Yaaaay, another chapter is up! Sorry for the late update, I kind of forgot about this story XD But hey, at least it's a longer chapter this time!**

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Chapter 3: The moustache man, the flower ossan, and…Shanks?

* * *

The large ship changed its direction, and started making its way towards the small boat.

Rayleigh didn't have the energy to deal with his captain's antics at this particular moment, so he decided to go and get some rest. Even if his captain was an idiot, he was strong. Besides, Gaban, Crocus and Seagull were out there in case Roger's idiocy started to affect his strength.

Two of the crewmembers on board the Oro Jackson started to prepare the rope ladder so that they could pull the boy on the boat up, when suddenly, a scream was heard.

The pirates stopped what they were doing and looked at the small boat, only to see that the small figure on it had disappeared.

 _Huh?_

The sound of the scream was very faint at first, but then it started to get louder and louder.

They all looked up at a sky.

Something was coming.

It was approaching incredibly fast, and the flying object was becoming louder and louder the closer it got to the massive ship.

Is it a bird?

A cannon?

A…a _HUMAN_?

Roger's eyes widened as the figure that had previously been on the boat collided with him, sending him crashing onto the other side of the ship.

* * *

Luffy was prancing around in excitement as the ship changed its direction and started heading closer to him. From this distance, he was pretty sure he could launch himself from his small boat and onto the large ship.

He griped the edge of the boat as he stretched his arms and moved back, but then he realized that there wasn't enough space to launch himself directly at the ship. He pouted.

"Awwww, now what do I do? I can't reach that ship like this I need to get back to my nakama." He sighed and looked up at the sky, when an idea popped into his head.

"Aaaahh, I know! If I can't launch myself directly towards the ship, then I'll just use the small mast of the boat to launch myself up into the sky! Hopefully I will land on the ship and not in the ocean… Oh well! Might as well try it!" He stretched his arms up and grabbed the mast, and pulled down as much as he could. Then, he let go.

"Gomu gomu nooooooo…. ROCKEEEETTT". And up he went.

"Whoaaaaa, I went up so high!" He yelped in surprise as he was shot up into the sky. From the top, he could see the pirate ship underneath him. It was huge!

Something on the ship caught his attention.

Was that…. An _egg_?

"Whoaaaa coooooool, it's a really big spotty egg! Why do they have a big spotty egg on their ship? That's so coooooolllll" He exclaimed as his eyes turned into starts while he was now starting to fall down.

He was so distracted that he didn't realize he was nearing the ship now, and didn't have time to blow himself up into a balloon or grab the mast of the ship or something so that he could land gracefully. He also didn't realize that there was a large man standing in the spot that he was falling towards…..

CRASH!

Luffy collided with the pirate king, and they ended up on the other side of the ship tangled up with each other with the ropes that just happened to be there.

The crewmembers all got into their fighting positions, ready to take on whomever it is that dared to harm their captain.

Luffy tried to get up, but he couldn't since the rope was preventing him from doing so. He was still all tangled up with Roger.

"Who are you moustache ossan?" Luffy looked up at Roger's strange moustache, surprising the pirate king.

"WE SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT", the rest of the crew shouted.

"Who are you kid? How dare you attack our captain?" Gaban went to help untangle Roger from the strange boy.

"I'm Luffy." Luffy looked around, not recognizing the pirate ship he was on. "You guys are pirates right?"

…

Everyone on the ship was staring strangly at him now. How can he NOT know the Roger pirates? This was the pirate king we're talking about for God's sake!

"Gurahahahahahhahahaha, what a strange kid, yes we're pirates. My name is Gol D. Roger, what were you doing there on that boat Luffy?"

Luffy's eyes widened at that. This man can't possibly be the pirate king, right?

Nah, can't be. It's probably just a random ossan with the same name.

"I don't know. I just woke up there. That's not important though, my hat, I lost my straw hat. Can you please take me to my nakama so I can find my hat?" Luffy said as he desperately grabbed Roger's shouldres.

A middle aged man with a yellow thing on his head that resembled a flower stepped a little closer to Luffy."Nakama? Who are you kid? Are you a marine? Pirate?" Luffy could have sworn that the man looked a little familiar, but he didn't know where he had seen this man before.

"Flower ossan? Have we met before?" The man seemed surprised at that, before an amused look crossed his face.

"Flower ossan? My name is Crocus." Ok, Luffy knew he definitely met this man before, but he just couldn't think of how he knew him. An old man with a strange white beard and a whale came to his mind, but that man was much older, and the flower on _his_ head was mainly purple. This guy's flower was yellow. Weird.

Oh well, it's probably just another mystery.

"Gurahahahha, you okay there Luffy? If you think any harder, you're going to catch a fever."

"That's not how fevers work Roger." Another man said in annoyance. He was wearing sunglasses, and had thick black hair that was tied up in a high ponytail.

"Hey moustache man, are you the captain?" Luffy asked the man in front of him.

"Yes, I am." Roger grinned at the boy, his smile reflecting what Luffy's would usually look like.

"So? Can you help me find my nakama?" Luffy asked as he stared at Roger with puppy dog eyes.

Roger thought that the boy was adorable! He reminded him of someone though, but he could not quite place his finger on who exactly it was. After studying the boy more closely, he could tell that he wasn't lying.

"Ahhhh, Rayleigh will get mad if we take a detour, but I guess it can't be helped. We can't just take you with us to where we're going anyway. Alright then, I'll help you".

Luffy's face brightened up at that and he beamed back at the captain. "Really? Thank you moustache ossan!"

Roger laughed at the strange nickname that the kid had given him. Crocus and Gaban didn't even bother arguing with their captain, they knew it was going to be pointless. They just hoped that Rayleigh would sleep until they got rid of the kid, because if he found out that they were taking a detour…lets just say that things would not end very well.

Roger got up and dusted himself off, then helped Luffy up. Luffy blinked.

Wait a minute, did the moustache man just mention a Rayleigh?

Meh, it must be a different Rayleigh, or maybe he just imagined it.

"Hey Gloria, what's the nearest island to where we are now?" Roger called out a crewmember with a log pose on her arm. Luffy guessed that she was probably the navigator of the ship. The woman pulled out a map from her pocket and spread it out on the deck.

"It seems that the nearest island to here is small Island called Acacia. It will take us a couple of hours to get there, and it's a different direction from where we were originally heading. It will be night by the time we get there so we will probably have to dock there for the night. The seas around that area are rough so I wouldn't recommend sailing in the night when visibility is low."

"That's fine, we need to restock our food supplies anyway, we are running low. The island we were supposed to meet on is uninhabited and there won't be many animals that we can hunt for there."

"Yeah, we do need to restock, because SOMEONE ate most of our food yesterday during the party which should have been enough to last us for at least two more weeks." Crocus gave a pointed glare to Roger, who just smiled sheepishly.

"Luffy, right? The sun is starting to go down now, we will be having dinner soon. My name is Scopper Gaban. I'll show you to the dining room, you must be hungry." Luffy's head whipped towards the man with the sunglasses, his eyes widening.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD"

Right at that moment, two teenagers, who looked to be the same age as Luffy, ran onto the deck as fast as they could. When they finally got there, they were heavily panting.

"What's with all the commotion? Are we under attack?" A strange boy with blue hair and a big red nose asked.

Okay, this is getting reaaallly weird now. He thought he recognized some people on this ship, but he DEFINATLY recognized the red nose. That's Buggy!

"Areee? Buggy? Why are you here?" Buggy was leaning down with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath, but his head instantly shot up when he heard his name. He stared at a boy who he did not recognize.

"Who are you? What's a stranger doing on this ship? How do you know my name?" But his words were unheard by Luffy, since he was now looking at the red head that was panting next to Buggy.

No.

It can't be.

Standing right next to Buggy was Shanks, with _his_ straw hat on top of his red locks. But this Shanks was different from the one Luffy knew. He was much younger, and he didn't have the three scars on his eye. Shanks used his left arm to wipe the sweat off of his forehead.

Left…..arm?

There's no way, Shanks didn't have a left arm. But he _knew_ that the person standing in front of him was Shanks. He just _knew_.

"Sha…. _Shanks_? How are you…. Your arm….." Luffy's voice was very weak, it almost came out as a whisper, but the red head still heard him nevertheless. Shanks tilted his head to the side as he looked at the boy in confusion.

Luffy's body started shaking, and his face was starting to get pale. He could tell that for some reason, Shanks didn't recognize him.

Noticing this, Roger looked between Luffy and his young apprentices in confusion. "Hey, what's going on? Do you guys know each other?"

"Um.. no, we don't, who's the kid?" Shanks replied.

Luffy felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. This was not how he was supposed to meet Shanks again. He was supposed to see him after he became a great pirate! They promised! And why was Shanks acting like he didn't know him? And he called him a kid! Luffy was not a kid! He was 19 years old, he was an adult now! For some reason, he felt anger start to bubble up within him.

"I'm NOT a kid! I'm 19! And what do you mean you don't know me? I know both of you! Why do you have two arms?"

Shanks was surprised by that question. Not only was the strange boy claiming that they somehow knew each other, he was asking why he had two arms. What kind of question was that? Of course he has arms, everyone does. Was this boy an idiot? He looked serious when he said that too, as if he was genuinely surprised that Shanks actually had arms.

"Are you stupid? Of course I have arms!"

The boy gaped at him, still not believing what he was seeing. All previous thoughts of food had left his mind. Roger scratched his head, knowing that the kid knew something that he didn't. Most of the pirates that were present on deck when Luffy had rocketed himself up on the ship had been surprised that the boy did not seem to care that he was on the Pirate King's ship. Most people would freak out. In fact, he didn't even seem to show any kind of recognition, not even when Roger told him his name. In fact, he seemed more confused than scared.

This had greatly confused the pirates, and had made them wonder if this was some kind of trap. Though the boy didn't look like much, most of the stronger members could feel the power radiating off of him. They knew he wasn't weak. Of course, he would still be considered fodder against people like them, but he wasn't weak in general.

But if so, how come they had never heard of him before? He did say he was a pirate. He looked like a crazy one as well, one that would surely cause a lot of commotion and trouble and always be on the news. Despite that, no one knew who he was. And if he really WAS a pirate, how could he not know who the pirate king was?

Though their captain was acting friendly with the boy, everyone knew that he was as equally suspicious.

But Shanks and Buggy were just cabin boys. They didn't even have a bounty yet. Unless they personally knew them, it would be unlikely that anyone would have heard of them. If the boy was some kind of marine spy, then seeing these two should not surprise him as much as it did.

"Why don't we all go to the dining room and talk about this a little more. Luffy, you still haven't told us why you were out alone on that boat, or how you were separated from your nakama. We need more information if you want our help. We would also like to hear about how you know our two cute little cabin boys."

The two 'cute little cabin boys' glared at Gaban for that statement. Luffy pursed his lips and hesitantly nodded. For once in his lifetime, he didn't feel like eating. But maybe seeing all this food would make him feel better about this strange situation.

Roger, Gaban, Crocus, Shanks, Buggy and Luffy all made their way to the dining room, with a few curious crewmembers following closely behind. Once they entered, the pirates who were already seated momentarily stopped their conversations to glance up at the stranger that was on their ship, but they soon ignored it after seeing that their captain was with him.

Luffy looked around the room with wide eyes. It was huge! Much bigger than the Sunny's dining room. There were so many people too, it was almost like a feast!

The group made their way to the end of the table, were they all sat together. They sat in silence for a while, until the food had arrived.

Crocus looked at Luffy, wanting to ask him a question, but he stopped mid sentence and almost chocked on his drink. Somehow, within a time period of only 5 minutes, there was a massive pile of plates next to the boy (who was currently shoving countless pieces of food into his mouth). The boy's cheeks had expanded, and his arms were stretching everywhere and stealing bits and pieces of other people's plate.

The unfortunate pirates who had their food stolen were too bewildered to do anything about it, as we watched the boy stretch his arms to unimaginable lengths and snatch their lunches away.

"What a strange devil fruit ability." Shanks muttered under his breath.

"WOW that's creepy, who the heck would give up their ability to swim for something stupid like THAT!" Buggy looked at Luffy in disgust.

Of course, Roger had to pickup a bottomless pit. Crocus sighed at that. Rayleigh was definitely NOT going to be happy. "Well, there goes the last little bit of our food supply." Seriously, where did it all go!?

The boy showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"Gurahahahahaha, what a funny kid! So Luffy, how do you know Shanks and Buggy? And what do you mean you're 19? You're clearly under 18." There's no way that he was 19, he looked to be about 16, maybe 17 at most. There was no way he was above 18.

Luffy paused from all the eating and looked up at Roger. "What? No I'm not, I'm 19! And I've known Shanks for a long time! He even has my hat! Well technically its his hat, but he gave it to me so its mine now. I also met Buggy in East blue nearly two years ago, and then again in.." Luffy stopped talking.

The last time he met Buggy, he had been in Impel Dawn. He really didn't want to think about that now. His hand instinctively went to his stomach to trace his X shaped scar that constantly reminded him of his failure to save his brother, but his fingers could not find it. Surprised, he looked down at his stomach, and nearly did a double take.

The large scar that should have been on his stomach had disappeared, and his stomach didn't look right. It wasn't as tight and muscly as it should have been. In fact, he almost looked like he did two years ago, before he trained with Rayleigh and before that terrible war happened.

His mouth formed an O shape as realization started to dawn on him.

His body had reversed back to the one he had when he was 17 years old.

And he came to the conclusion that now instead of a small one, this was a one huge, GIANT complicated mystery.

* * *

 **So I finally have this whole story planned out! The story should have 26 chapters, with 3 bonus chapters at the end :D**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing guys, it means a lot to me 3 For the person who asked, I plan on switching POV's between Luffy and Ace until they meet up for now.** **Buffy is 17, Ace is 20. Same age as marine ford. The reason why Luffy doesn't have his hat and Ace doesn't have his tattoo is complicated, but will be explained later in the story. For now, just think of it as since Ace and Luffy weren't born in the timeline of this story, Shanks hasn't given Luffy his hat yet and Ace couldn't have joined the WB pirates since he didn't exist at this time.**

 **But they should still have the hat and tattoo from the future anyway, right? So how come they don't? Well, keep reading to find out :p**


	4. Teacher and student meet again

Chapter four: Teacher and student meet again

* * *

Luffy leaned on the railings of the Oro Jackson as he gazed quietly out to the sea. After he discovered that for some reason he was 17, he had gone quiet and did not answer any questions for the rest of the time while he was eating. He looked at his fist and tried to coat it in Haki. He found that it was very difficult to do it and he couldn't control his Haki very well, almost like how he was when Rayleigh first showed him how to do it.

It was like all of the training that he did with Rayleigh for 2 years was for nothing. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew it was bad, and that he needed to get out of it quick. People might think that he's stupid, but he's actually not. He's just an idiot! (Yes… there's a difference).

Despite that, he knew that there was something strange about this world. He felt like he didn't belong here. Seeing Shanks and Buggy so young… it was strange. He doubted that this was a prank or something.

He tried to think if perhaps he ran into an enemy or something before waking up on that small boat that could have used a devil fruit to put him in this situation, but the last think he remembered was talking to Chopper. At first, he thought that maybe his nakama would look for him and get him out of whatever mess he'd got himself in, but he had a feeling that he was alone this time. He was going to have to figure this out himself.

Shanks slowly walked up to Luffy, careful not to startle him.

"Hey, are you ok? You kind of went really quiet and pale back at the mess hall, and you said some strange things."

"Where are we?"

"Huh?" Shanks looked at the boy in confusion.

"Where are we? Like what sea are we in?"

"Ummm, the grand line? This is the new world. Surely you knew that right? Or don't tell me you were on one of the blues and somehow ended up here on that boat?!"

"No, I'm supposed to be in the new world, it just feels so… different, kind of like I'm in a different world. You're different".

"You keep saying that, but I don't know you! Are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else?" At this point, Shanks was starting to get a little bit scared by how well the boy seemed to know him. It wasn't just that he knew his name, it was the look in Luffy's eyes.

He knew that many people on the ship that had been there when he first met Luffy probably thought he was some kind of marine spy or something, which is why he had some info on some of the crewmembers. Maybe he was trying to confuse them or something. But just from looking into his eyes, Shanks could tell that he wasn't lying. Luffy had looked so confused when he saw him, and he was so sure that he knew him, it was almost impossible to fake that. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul after all.

"Yes, and no I guess. You're him, but you're not. You're a different version of Shanks, I know the older one. Also the Shanks I know is cool, you kinda look like an idiot."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Shanks looked at Luffy in annoyance. This guy just doesn't make any sense; it was starting to drive him crazy!

"Don't worry though! I still like you, and you will be cool like the cool Shanks when you're older too!"

Okay, it was official. This guy was mentally insane. He should probably tell Crocus to check if the poor boy has any brain damage or something. From the way he crashed into their ship, it seems very likely, even if he's made out of rubber.

"Hey Luffy! Can you come here for a second?" Roger came out from a room and called out to Luffy, waiting for him to come to him.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later! Bye! You look weird without the scars on your eyes by the way!" Luffy waved to Shanks as he made his way over to Roger.

It was then that Shanks decided he needed to go take a nap before his brain exploded from thinking too much and trying to make sense out of Luffy's nonsense. He's never had any scars on his eyes before!

* * *

Roger led Luffy into a room that had a big round table in the middle, and a bunch of chairs surrounding it. It was probably a room that the Roger pirates used for meetings and stuff.

"We should be arriving at the nearest island, Acacia soon. I wanted to talk to you before we got there."

"Ok, cool!" Luffy figured that maybe he could do some exploring on the island and figure out more about this mystery than he could on this ship.

"So your name is Luffy, you're a pirate, and you got separated from your nakama right? Can you tell me how you ended up on that boat exactly?"

"Yep, my name is Monkey D. Luffy." Roger's eyes widened at that. "I don't know what happened, I just went to sleep on the Sunny after talking to Chopper and then when I woke up I was on a boat!"

Monkey D? Was this boy related to Garp? Being a D himself, he knew that there weren't many people who had that middle initial, so those who also shared the last name were likely to be related. He vaguely recalled hearing rumours of Garp having a son, was this him? He can't imagine Garp's son to be a pirate. Besides, if this boy really was Garp's son AND a D, then he should be all over the news right now for causing havoc as a pirate. Maybe he's just starting out? But no, that cant be it, they're in the new world! Who'd start out here?

"Wait a minute, D? Monkey D? You don't happen to know Garp by any chance, do you?"

Luffy paled at the mention of his grandfather. Now that he mentioned it, if this guy was the real pirate king then he probably knew his grandfather. What if he comes here? That would be very bad! He really didn't want to see Garp right now.

Seeing how stiff and pale Luffy had went, Roger guessed that he was right. He WAS Garp's son. His weirdness kind of makes sense. Also, Garp wasn't the type to send spies to infiltrate pirate crews, he'd just come himself and pick a fight with them. But how on earth did this boy become a pirate with Garp as a father? Never mind that, how is he even alive? He doubted that Garp was a very good father, he seemed like a very strict one that would always be 'training' his child in many inhumane ways. Yikes, he felt sorry for Luffy now.

"Okay, so you said you just woke up on the boat? You don't remember what happened? What's the sunny, and who's Chopper?"

"Chopper is my Nakama, he's a reindeer, and the ship's doctor. Sunny is my ship."

"Gurahahahahha, it seems like you have interesting nakama! As expected from a fellow D".

"D?"

"Meh, it seems like you don't know much about it, but you'll find out eventually. Anyway, do you have any idea where your nakama might be?

"Nope"

"Well, that's very helpful." Roger replied sarcastically. "I haven't seen you on the newspapers. How long have you been a pirate for?"

"Nearly 3 years now, but I kind of stopped to train for two years with Rayl…"

"ROGER!" The door to the room suddenly slammed open. "Why the hell are we changing course… and who's this?" Rayleigh nodded over to Luffy.

"Aaaahhhh Rayleigh! Hahahahaha, funny story, you see…." Rayleigh and Roger started arguing, while Luffy started at Rayleigh in shock. He was BLONDE!

"Ossan, you're not old and wrinkly! And you actually look cool instead of like some kind of homeless man!" Luffy gaped at him with stars in his eyes. "SOOOO COOOOOL, I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU LOOKED SO BADASS AND NOT OLD."

Both men stopped arguing and turned to Luffy in bewilderment. Roger burst out laughing.

"What are you talking about boy, I'm 52. I'm not that old yet"

"Really? I thought you were like 80." Tick marks appeared on Rayleigh's forehead as Roger started laughing harder.

"Gurahahahahah, see? I told you Rayleigh, your bounty poster makes you look old."

"No it doesn't, shut up. Who is this brat?"

"I'm Luffy, I'm going to be the pirate king. Your hair isn't white, weird."

"OF COURSE IT'S NOT WHITE!"

"Huh? What do you mean? I'M the pirate king." Roger looked at Luffy weirdly.

"You were, but then you died. Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, but why are you alive? Your head was supposed to be chopped off."

"Aaaah ignore him Rayleigh, he's Garp's son. I think he inherited his craziness. He's been saying weird things like this for a long time." Roger whispered to Rayleigh, who looked at him in shock, then back at Luffy. Garp's son? He had heard of that rumour, but ignored it since even if it was true, he doubted the poor child would survive with having Garp as a parent.

"Captain! We've nearly arrived at Acacia." One of the crewmembers came in and informed everyone in the room.

"Ok, well then, prepare to land."

"Yes captain." Luffy followed the crew member and Roger got up and attempted to do the same, but Rayleigh grabbed Roger and pulled him back.

"Wait a minute, you still didn't explain, what is Garp's son doing here, and why are we changing course?"

"Ahahahahahhaha, well, you see…"

* * *

Ace could feel something cold and wet on his forehead. He woke up with a gasp, causing the person sitting next to him to fall off his chair. He frantically looked around and saw that he was lying down on a bed, and with a wet towel on his head. The bartender from earlier was now sprawled on the floor and cursing under his breath.

"What the heck did you do that for? Nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!"

"Where am I? What happened?" Ace was starting to panic as the information from what had happened earlier in the day came flooding back to him.

"Whoa whoa, calm down kid! My name is Glade, you just straight up passed out back at the bar, and since you still hadn't woken up by closing time I carried you back to my house. You looked like you had a fever so I tried to bring it down, your face was all flushed and you were struggling to breath while you were sleeping."

"…Oh…..thanks I guess….."

"So have you finally calmed down now?"

"Kind of…. Where am I?"

"I just told ya, your in my house"

"No, like, WHERE. Which island is this? And where exactly is it located?" Glade looked at Ace strangely for a couple of seconds before he finally spoke again.

"This island is called Acacia, it's in the new world. You didn't know that?"

Ace's eyes widened in surprise. Marineford was in paradise, how did he get to the new world? Never mind that, if he was right, he went back in time and he was no longer in the present, this was the past. Being in the new world is not the strangest thing that's happening right now. Heck, he's supposed to be dead!

"…..Water…."

"What?"

"I need some water and painkillers before my head brain explodes!"

"Right." Glade went to the kitchen to get the water and painkillers.

Ace lied back down on the bed and sighed deeply. This might just be the biggest mess he'd ever gotten himself into. He doubted even Luffy could get himself in a problem this complicated.

Little did Ace know that Luffy was also dragged into this mess, and that it was only going to get more complicated

* * *

 **Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry it took so long to update, I've been very busy since I was travelling and I also had exams. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, thank you for the wonderful reviews :D This chapter was a little short but I wanted to post something since I haven't in a long time, next chapter will hopefully be twice as long.**

 **Also, if you want, you can follow my one piece account on Instagram. My username is pineappleluffy**


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